


Music Lessons

by CynicalRainbows



Series: Bessie & Catalina Foster AU [2]
Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: Family Fluff, Found Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:21:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25648741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CynicalRainbows/pseuds/CynicalRainbows
Summary: Bessie meets her older foster-sisters for the first time.(AU in which a young Bessie is fostered by Catalina.)
Relationships: Catherine of Aragon & Elizabeth "Bessie" Blount
Series: Bessie & Catalina Foster AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1859428
Comments: 3
Kudos: 26





	Music Lessons

They burst into the quiet flat, bringing with them light and colour and noise-

It’s a little overwhelming, even though Catalina has done her best to prepare her for their arrival.

(‘They’re so excited to meet you, mija.’

Bessie keeps her eyes on her cereal, tilting her spoon this way and that in her bowl of rice krispies.

‘But….why?’

‘They meet all my girls, if they can.’ Catalina smiles to herself. ‘They mean well, they really do.’ She pauses. ‘Don’t mind them if they are a little…..exuberant.)

Joan kicks off her boots without bothering to untie the laces, making Catalina wince, and Maggie slides the guitar case- almost bigger than she is- from her back, and then they both rush forward and fling themselves at Catalina.

‘Catty-’

‘Mija-’

Bessie hangs back, hovering in the doorway. She isn’t sure whether she’s intruding by being there, or whether retreating to the sitting room would make her look sulky and sullen. She isn’t, but even though she herself is still working on not flinching every time Catalina touches her arm, it feels funny to see these strange girls hugging her. Not jealousy exactly, but not not jealousy either.

After a moment though, while she’s still deciding what to do, they pull away from Catalina and turn to her.

‘And you must be Bessie?’

She nods awkwardly, and then hates herself for not saying yes like a normal person, feeling more like six than twelve, wishing she knew how to be chatty, how to be outgoing, how to simply be. 

‘Hi! I’m Maggie!’ 

The smaller of the two girls smiles brightly at her. ‘It’s great to finally get to meet you!’ 

She sounds as if she actually means it too.

She tries to smile back but she’s suddenly struck by a terrible fear that she’s somehow looking wrong, that they’ll think she’s smirking and that she’ll be told to ‘Wipe that look off your face’…. Her throat feels dry.

‘Hi.’

‘And I’m Joan.’ This one is taller, her hair very long and very pale, the colour of a peeled banana. She gives a self-conscious wave and a little laugh. ‘Hi. Hello. Nice to meet you.’

Maggie scoffs and digs her in the ribs. ‘Joan, you’re not in a meeting, who says nice to meet you?’

‘Shut up.’ Joan sends Bessie a warm smile. ‘Catalina has told us so much about you!’

The words make her want to squirm- she wonders what Catalina has said. Has she told them that she arrived at Catalina’s house six hours later than expected because she tried to run back home in case Mum was (somehow, somehow) waiting there for her, with an explanation about where she’d been for three weeks that somehow made sense of everything? Has she told them that she cried herself sick on her first night, that it took her two days to tell Catalina she had run out of sanitary pads, that she had an anxiety attack last week at school and Catalina had to come and pick her up?

‘All good things-’ Maggie adds quickly, as if she can read her mind. ‘She said you like music?’

She nods again, more eagerly, wishing she could answer properly and knowing that she can’t, knowing that with every non answer, she’s surely trying Maggie’s patience.

‘She said you’re learning the guitar?’ Joan persists.

She nods again.

‘For- for school.’

It feels wrong, to let them think that she’s learning it properly, but they don’t look disappointed, which is odd: she’s used to people dismissing the things she likes more readily.

‘Do you like it?’

More than anything. ‘Yes.’

‘Maggie plays too, don’t you Mags? With her band.’

She tries to look as if it’s new information, as if she hadn’t noticed the sticker-emblazoned guitar case immediately and wished she could look more closely.

Maggie smiles modestly. ‘When I can.’

‘What are you called now?’ Catalina asks, and it’s obviously a bit of a joke between them because Joan starts laughing.

‘Tell her, Mags.’

Maggie covers her face with her hands and mumbles something.

‘What was that?’

Another mumble.

‘One more time?’

Maggie takes a deep breath and doesn’t remove her hands.

‘We’re…we’re the Suss Cunts-’

‘Maggie Lee!’

Joan is in paroxyms of laughter. ‘I told you she’d hate it!’ She turns to Bessie. ‘I told her that she’d regret it when, y’know, people actually asked what they’re called-’

It’s nice, how Joan talks to her as if they’re in on the joke together and she risks a little smile and Catalina’s horror and Maggie’s slightly sheepish expression: for a moment, the infinitely cool and tattooed musician in front of her looks like a child being scolded.

‘What were you thinking?’

She tenses up, waiting for the eruption, until she realises that Catalina looks annoyed- but not angry- and Maggie looks sheepish- but not scared.

‘You asked!’

‘I didn’t think it would be- well, something like that!’

‘We wanted something that would make an impact!’

‘To your audiences! Not in front of a twelve year old girl though!’

‘Oh I’m sure she’s heard worse at school-’

‘That’s not the point!’ Catalina scolds. ‘Does it make you happy to shock me? Does this make you happy?’

‘Honestly, a little bit-’

‘Margaret Lee-’

‘Anyway-’ Maggie interrupts Catalina’s horrified questions about whatever possessed her to choose such a name and tilts her head at Bessie. ‘I was just wondering….would you maybe want to have a little sesh now? I’d love to see where you’re at-’

She feels a flicker of excitement for a moment- the idea of actually getting to play with someone who knows what they’re doing, someone cool and grown up like Maggie, a million miles away from the old music master at school who always talks like he’s on the verge of falling asleep, someone who is actually interested in playing with her….and then it dies.

‘I’m….not very good-’

Maggie shakes her head. ‘That doesn’t matter. You’re probably better than you think you are, but whatever level you’re at, I’d still love to hear you. I teach guitar on the side sometimes,’ she adds gently. ‘All beginners.’

Maggie sounds like she means it- and she doesn’t look like she’d be the kind of person to get cross at someone not catching on fast enough (she’s good at picking up at when people are like that, she’s had to be). And even if she did, she feels like Catalina would probably step in (probably).

But there’s another problem.

‘I don’t have my guitar.’

Even then, no one gets cross with her for throwing Maggie’s kind offer back in her face- Joan just says that she can use Maggie’s, while Maggie nods assent….and then points out the various injuries she herself has accidentally caused the poor thing when Bessie is reluctant to touch it for fear of damaging it.

Slowly- very slowly, she reaches out. 

And she takes it.


End file.
